The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea plant, botanically known as Hydrangea macrophylla, commercially referred to as a mophead-type Hydrangea and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘H216901’.
The new Hydrangea plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in De Kwakel, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program was to create new freely-branching Hydrangea plants with strong sturdy stems, large inflorescences, attractive flower color and good postproduction longevity.
The new Hydrangea plant is a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Agrihydradrie’, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 19,726. The new Hydrangea plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within a population of plants of ‘Agrihydradrie’ in a controlled greenhouse environment in De Kwakel, The Netherlands in May, 2012.
Asexual reproduction of the new Hydrangea plant by vegetative terminal cuttings in a controlled environment in De Kwakel, The Netherlands since September, 2012 has shown that the unique features of this new Hydrangea plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.